Matthews out, Gurley makes trip

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tray Matthews is officially out, while Todd Gurley has not quite been ruled out yet.

Matthews, the Georgia football team's starting free safety, did not make the trip to Tennessee, a team spokesman confirmed on Saturday. Matthews, a freshman, re-injured his hamstring on Tuesday.

But Connor Norman, a candidate for playing time at strong safety, did make the trip. Norman was out of Wednesday's practice.

It's likely that Quincy Mauger, another freshman, will replace Matthews at free safety, while the team can go with a tandem of Norman and junior Corey Moore at strong safety when the team is in its nickel defense. (Josh Harvey-Clemons is the team's starting strong safety in the base 3-4 defense.)

Gurley, the team's star tailback, is on the trip despite a sprained ankle that kept him out of practice through Wednesday this week. (It's unclear if he participated on Thursday.) Being on the trip doesn't guarantee that Gurley will play, but it could mean that he will at least give the ankle a try before the game.

In any case, Georgia still has Keith Marshall, who was the team's leading rusher in last year's win over Tennessee.

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About Jason Butt

Jason Butt joins The Telegraph after spending the past two years covering high school sports for The Washington Post. A 2009 University of Georgia graduate, he's also covered the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons for CBSSports.com.